Tribute to the Alphagods: WRATH

Chapter 7: WRATH

My face hurts. As in, I was hit in the face by a speeding train kind of pain. Katlyn stayed with me while I stopped at my room to get a new robe to wear.

The knife I found is tightly secured to my thigh in the sheath. I won't be caught without this thing ever again. It didn't outright save me, but it gave me a chance.

Maybe it was naive of me to think that this would be an easy task, but I was so wrong.

I've never seen so much wine in all my life. This place has more wine than a vineyard. We have filled every kind of vessel I can possibly imagine, and there are more to go. There are decanters, fountains, punchbowls—anything that can hold a liquid—and we're filling it with wine. We're pouring directly from barrels.

Luckily, it seems that everyone is pretty tired from all of the orgies because we haven't seen a single other person—no one that's awake anyway. The job seems endless, but at least it's quiet.

"What's that?" I gesture to a row of pillars in front of us. Whatever is behind them is apparent, even from here, and that's what's important. The tall columns are regal and beautiful.

"That's the throne room," Katyln sounds almost wistful. "There is another fountain in there."

The last fountain took six barrels of wine to fill. I have to bite into my lip to keep from audibly whining. This is going to be an absolute bitch. Walking back to the kitchen, we nearly kill each other trying to tip the barrels on their sides so that we can roll them. This is a task for someone who is much stronger than two human women. Just tipping the barrel is exhausting and almost impossible. I consider myself strong, I've danced my whole life, I work out and train my body daily. This is disheartening.

"Fuck," Katlyn says, wiping her sweaty brow. "How are we supposed to get these all the way in there?"

"I don't know." I sigh, piling my hair up to let air get to my neck. "We can each take one barrel, or we can do it together, taking one at a time. That way will be easier, but it will take longer."

She groans, "Let's try to take one each, and if it's too hard, we'll take one together after."

It takes forever, but we eventually get the barrels up to the colosseum like throne room. As soon as we reach the gardens that surround it, I can hear people talking.

Oh no.

The only thing that could make this job worse is trying to do it while being supervised.

Taking a deep breath, I push forward, the barrel rolling much easier over the marble. Inside, Juno is lounging across a golden throne. It gleams in the light, like it's covered in diamonds.

In front of her, the man from last night. My savior. He's standing beside a woman wearing the same kind of clothing as him. They look militant. He looks even more handsome than I thought he was last night. His proud posture and perfect body call all eyes to him. Or at least... it calls my eyes.

Looking down at the floor, I try to focus on my job. They aren't paying attention to us, at all.

"Wow," Katlyn whispers as we reach the fountain. "Get a load of him!" Her mouth is hanging open, much like mine was, and her eyes are practically bulging out of her head. "Where was he last night?"

"Shh." I feel guilty for chastising her after I was just oogling him myself.

"I need you here, Mars. I can't hold him without your help," Juno's seductive voice rings out as they continue their conversation as if we weren't here.

"I told you when you came to me before that this was a stupid fucking plan. You can't kill him, so you can never ensure that he doesn't get free. Do you know what's going to happen when he gets free, Juno? Either tomorrow or in three years, ten years, or thirty years, it won't matter. He will be free one day, and what is that going to mean for you and anyone who aligns themselves with you?" He folds his muscular arms over his equally muscular chest.